We will not give up on sensible gun legislation
Opinion: Columns
Tuesday, November 21st, 2017 12:11 PM

By State Sen. Don Harmon
One View

At Thanksgiving, we find ourselves blessed if we are able to gather with loved ones for a delicious meal and the simple gift of being together. It is also a time to think of and pray for those among us who struggle and for those gatherings that have been cruelly altered by loss. This awareness gives deeper meaning to the occasion and provides renewed purpose to strive on against challenges yet overcome.

This year and this month, our nation should be especially mindful of those gatherings altered tragically by gun violence across the country. It is not a new problem, obviously, especially in our area, but the failure to reduce these tragedies is a tragedy of our own making. We have enacted important measures but more is urgently needed to curb the flow of guns to our streets and save innocent lives.

But I am not deterred. In the spring, the Illinois Senate approved my legislation to reduce gun violence by licensing gun dealers. I have introduced legislation similar to this every year for 15 years since I first came to elected office. We had hoped the House of Representatives would approve the measure in early November during veto session, but now predict that vote will happen early next year. Change is overdue and required, but with 15 years of striving behind me, I am not discouraged by a few more months.

Partners with me in this call for action grassroots activists, moms, dads, pastors and neighbors are coming together demanding common-sense gun safety legislation as never before. Some have been fighting with me for a long time. I am thankful for the tremendous partners and volunteers that have contributed to this effort. That hard work and commitment is paying off, and the atmosphere is changing. The Senate approved my legislation with bipartisan support. I believe the House will do the same.

No matter how long it takes, we will get there. When that day comes, we will be humbled by years of senseless and preventable loss, but also, thankful.

What a joke huh. These people and their fake moral outrage and bullstuff propagandizing never stops does it. They could care less about anything that they are talking about, only about pushing their anti gun agenda and the money and political support they get from billionaires and muppets.

Is Introducing redundant legislation aimed solely at putting gun shops out of business and providing less places for legal gun owners to buy firearms really gonna do a darn thing ?

The FOID system didn't work, none of your gun bans or registrations have ever worked and now you're grasping at any last straw you can in the name of keeping your agenda moving. Its pathetic really. I can think of no other word. To keep it up for 15 years you either have to be so blinded by bias you can't see any other point of view or clinically insane. In his case probably both huh.

Edited by mic6010, 21 November 2017 - 06:27 PM.

"Living in Chicago, it used to be, 'don't go out at night,' or 'be more careful at night'. Now it's turned into a place where it doesn't matter if it's day or night." - John Hendricks.

I'll give you a hint - mothers who think that it is traumatic for their children to see the silhouette of a gun on the Section 65(d) "No Guns" sign and think all places should be prohibited for carrying unless the owner expressly puts up a "Guns Allowed" sign.

Mayor Bloomberg himself has recently turned his attention from oversize soft drinks to gun control, confirming the tendency of the Progressive to go from nanny to tyrant.

Whenever these anti-gunners get their ***** handed to them in the legislature they revert to "We Shall Overcome" martyr status.

Considering where Illinois was 20 years ago... the notion that gun control activists are making progress with their regulatory efforts is completely false. The opposite has happened. Their unconstitutional infringements in Illinois have completely unraveled and their efforts to recreate them piecemeal have been unsuccessful.

Mayor Bloomberg himself has recently turned his attention from oversize soft drinks to gun control, confirming the tendency of the Progressive to go from nanny to tyrant.

Whenever these anti-gunners get their ***** handed to them in the legislature they revert to "We Shall Overcome" martyr status.

Considering where Illinois was 20 years ago... the notion that gun control activists are making progress with their regulatory efforts is completely false. The opposite has happened. Their unconstitutional infringements in Illinois have completely unraveled and their efforts to recreate them piecemeal have been unsuccessful.

No kidding. I fail to see how having the carriage ban portion of the AUUW/UUW ruled facially unconstitutional being "progress" (for "them"). How does being forced by a federal court of appeals to pass legislation for carry outside the home equate to progress? How does getting crushed every single time they pull this crap equate to progress? By that same logic, if I take a 10k to Vegas, lose it all, I can still call myself a winner. What'd I win? Nothing. But I won!

Harmon CAN'T let it go, SB1657 is is his "miracle" bill that he has managed to get out of the Senate.

He can't do it again, he doesn't have a naive appointed Senator (Rooney) to bamboozle a vote from.

They will hold it at third reading until the threshold drops back to 60, and come heck or high water - or even an election - sneak it in as quietly as they can for a vote, all the while trying to erode the foundations of resistance to the bill.

Quite frankly the lame duck part of the session after the election is when I expect them to make their last ditch attempt.

And does this excerpt from his Biography sound a wee bit self serving?

For the past 20 years, Senator Rooney has taught economics and history at West Leyden High School, skillfully balancing his education career with his duties in local government. Senator Rooney is passionate about teaching and has been recognized for his commitment to education by the Foundation for Teaching Economics’ (FTE) who awarded him the nationwide “Excellence in Economic Education” award in 2001.

The Republican Party had BETTER be VERY active in correcting this knife he stuck in our backs.

We COULD have had a relaxed fall and veto session, NOW we are on tenterhooks until the end of the 100th General assembly before the second Monday of January 2019. And until SB1657 is dead dead dead and buried I will NOT let anyone forget the actions of this quisling.

How long before sexual assault allegations come out against him? It seems like the common thing now.

When picking a firearm, you want one that is like a heavy chick. A gun that is reliable, doesn't mind getting rough, and one that goes bang every time. What's the point of having something pretty looking it isn't up for the task?

In an effort to reduce the number opioid prescriptions, Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) has introduced a bill that would fast-track temporary medical cannabis cards to patients as an alternative.

The Alternative to Opioids Act expedites the application process to 14 days for those prescribed opioid-based painkillers. Those accepted would get a 12-month temporary registry card for cannabis.

Medical cannabis has been legal in Illinois since the establishment of the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program in 2013. The drug is legal for medical uses in 29 states.

Harmon said in a telephone interview that the bill was inspired by patients who testified before the Senate Executive Committee last spring about getting addicted to opioids.

Patients described the difficulty in weening themselves off opioids. He said the bill aims to reduce the use of such drugs.

"With the opioid crisis rapidly getting worse, it's clear that what we're doing now isn't working," Harmon said in a press release. "Research has shown that medical cannabis can treat the same conditions for which opioids are prescribed. With thousands of people from every part of our state dying from opioid addiction, it would be irresponsible for us to not consider any safe alternative treatment."

Harmon noted that more than 60,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2016, "more than the total number of U.S. soldiers killed in the Vietnam War."

He said that opioid-related deaths have increased 120 percent in Illinois from 2014 to 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Asked whether he was concerned about the argument that cannabis can be a gateway drug for more powerful sedatives, Harmon said, "I don't know that I believe it."

"I know heroin is addictive and opioids are addictive, and they're ruining lives and killing people," he said. "I'm willing to take the risk that medical cannabis is a better substitute.

"I think it's important to build a model that allows patients to quickly transition from opioids to something else," he added. "I'm optimistic that medical cannabis is an appropriate alternative."

is Billionaire Bloomberg who puts money into this crony enriching politician's pocket so he can spout his nonsense.

Someone might've mentioned that in a reply...

You will not 'rise to the occasion', you will default to your level of training - plan accordingly.

Despite their rallying around us at election time, honoring only 8 hours of Illinois' 40+ hour law enforcement class towards a 16 hour requirement shows the contempt that our elected officials hold us in.

"The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." - James Madison
NRA, ISRA, GOA, SAF

Victory? Apparently he hasn't gotten the memo: the gun control movement's quickly declining.

"The point of [so-called "assault weapon" bans]...is not to ban firearms that are dangerous, it's to ban firearms that gun owners want to own because the people making the laws don't like gun owners. If we want to buy non-semiauto AR-style rifles, they'll ban those too, and for the same reason."

I inherited him. He has zero tolerance for gun ownership. He will say whatever he wants but he wants zero guns and thinks any little bill helps achieve that goal. While I won't quit I'm actually tired of contacting him as I'm up against Oak Park liberals that are as anti gun as they come.
Someone was mailing anti gun stickers to businesses in his district with a letter stating they must post. I wonder where that idea came from

Exodus 22:2-3
If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.

Gun control is not about guns, it's about control. Once they have all the guns, they'll also have complete control.-Abolt

Victory? Apparently he hasn't gotten the memo: the gun control movement's quickly declining.

I hope that is the case, but we can never rest as they will try all they can to take our freedom away. We do have some stuff in the litter box Harmon can bite and something that weighs around 175 that will bite Harmon.

A Chechen Olivcharka also know as a Russian Bear dog.

I keep my sidearm on me when walking, okay being dragged by his big dog self, just in case he gets off-leash.

Sensible gun legislation is code for one day picking up every one of them and making the 2nd amendment worthless. We will not give up on the Constitution and will defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
James Madison

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
Edmund Burke

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"
George Orwell